Admissions blog

Tell us about your hometown.
I come from Kyrgyzstan's capital city called Bishkek. By population, it is about the same as Philadelphia, but significantly smaller in size, as it is more densely populated. When Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union, Bishkek was the greenest city among the Soviet large cities. I lived there for the last 10 years, and I'm planning to go back, as I feel that I...

Tells us about your hometown. I am from Houston, Texas. Houston is in an interesting stage developmentally, and is growing at an exponential rate. Houston is super diverse, and has a lively arts and culture scene. While there is a lot of prosperity due to the oil and gas industry and medical field, there's a lot of disparity. As the city continues to grow and prosper, I hope to return to...

Tells us a bit about your hometown. I grew up in Harvard, Massachusetts (not the university). It's an hour outside Boston, rural, pretty, and very small - population 6,000. I went to public school, and everyone knew everyone else. Harvard has some interesting history: Louisa May Alcott lived there for a while with her family on an estate called Fruitlands, and a colony of Shakers, a...

Where are you from? I grew up in the Mayfair section of Northeast Philadelphia, just about 20 minutes from Penn. My neighborhood was and continues to be extremely family oriented and close-knit. This goes without saying but we take Philadelphia sports very seriously.
What were you doing prior to coming to Fels? After graduating from Penn, I was a 2009 Teach for America Corps Member. I...

This year the Fels Institute of Government received a large number of high-caliber applications for the full-time MPA program. The applicant pool was incredibly competitive, with many qualified candidates committed to making a difference in the world. The incoming class individually and collectively represents an impressive variety of academic achievements and career experiences.
A majority of...

Interested in learning more about the Fels Institute of Government? Follow the link on the right to view the transcript from our recent Live Chat, featuring the Fels Admissions team and a few of our current students.
The transcript is also available at: https://www.fels.upenn.edu/sites/www.fels.upenn.edu/files/live_chat_link...

By Jaclyn Clevenger, Fels Admissions Coordinator
The most wonderful time of year is finally upon us! No, I don't mean the holidays, but the other most exciting aspect of this time of year: application season! Right now, thousands of prospective graduate students around the world are taking the GRE's, finalizing their personal statements, and scrambling to find that one last supervisor or former...

What do we mean when we call Fels the most practical program in public administration in the Ivy League? Our information session will be a great opportunity for prospective students to hear directly from current students, alumni, faculty, and staff. They will tell you about the coursework and the culture -- from their perspective -- so that you get a great feel for what it's like to study...

Allyson Davis, Executive MPA '12
Growing up in Philadelphia—the birthplace of democracy—cultivated my passion for history, government and public service. As a student in the Philadelphia public schools, I saw firsthand the challenging conditions, the racial tensions, and the other fault lines of social inequality. Wanting to learn more to help make sense of my experience, I attended...

Dear Future Felsian,
Congratulations on your acceptance to the MPA program at Fels. My name is John Bova and I'm a first year student at Fels. (The picture above is me at my Admitted Students Day in 2011.)
Your acceptance is the first step to becoming a savvy leader who knows how to get things done in the public sector. You share this honor with an impressive group of admitted...